#LocalGovMatters – Criminal Justice Coalition

This week Gwyn interviews State Public Defender Kelli Thompson and Portage County District Attorney Louis Molepske about the new Criminal Justice Coalition that is working to have criminal justice budgeting done in a comprehensive fair manner instead of looking at each entity individually.

Gwyn wrote a story about the Coalition back in November, and wrote a story about the Coalition’s White Paper when they released it.

District Attorney Molepske starts out the podcast talking about the Criminal Justice Coalition. He discusses how it came together, who is included in the Coalition (State Public Defender’s Office (SPD), Wisconsin District Attorney’s Association (WDAA), Association of State Prosecutors (ASP), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Director of State Court’s Office (DSCO)) Molepske highlights the importance of both sides of the court room being equal.

In the second portion of the podcast Thompson and Molepske both discuss the need for recruiting and retaining attorneys to the district attorneys office and the public defenders office. The two discuss the importance of pay progression and funding a pay progression after one is granted.

The podcast closes by discussing the State Crime Lab and the need for crime lab technicians to be fully funded, given a pay progression, and being given assistance in the administrative portion of their job so they can do the technical parts of their jobs.

Thank you to the community radio stations that carry #LocalGovMatters:

Rice Lake Radio – 105.5 FM

Waupaca Radio – 96.3 FM

Sun Prairie Radio – 103.5 FM

Thank you to the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and the Wisconsin Counties Association for their collaboration with this podcast.